Somali National Army (SNA) confirmed Tuesday a senior al-Shabab leader surrendered to the government forces in the central town of Dhusamareb, the capital of Galmudug state.
The SNA said Ali Ibrahim has been the head of the al-Qaida allied terrorist group’s health office in the Galgaduud region for years.
The SNA Radio said that the long-time al-Shabab health official surrendered to the SNA force’s special unit, Gorgor, operating in Galmudug after Ibrahim said he was dissatisfied with the group’s terror activities on the Somali people.
Ibrahim’s surrender came after the joint anti-terror security operation which ended in early August saw more than 200 al-Shabab militants being killed, 16 bases destroyed, four towns and eight villages liberated.
Several al-Shabab leaders also surrendered to government forces in the Galgaduud region in the state during the operations in August.
The latest incident comes amid sustained operations by government forces against al-Shabab in the central part of Somalia where the militants still control swathes of rural areas where they conduct ambushes and plant landmines.
